Hidden Expectations
by snowsa
Summary: A war is raging unseen in Mystic Falls, and it seems everyone is after Elena. As Stefan and Damon try to frantically figure out who is behind all the new vampires, Elena learns a few secrets about Damon that could change everything she's ever thought.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so first of all this story is technically my first fanfction, so ALL kinds of reviews are welcome. (Although the nice ones are always most wanted....) Also, Elena might be slightly OOC for those of you who have only read the books and not seen the show. In the books she's kind of bossy and a little The-whole-world-revolves-around-me , but in the show she's more normal so I plan on using that personality for her. Damon will pretty much be the way he is in the show too. Actually, this whole story will probably be based on the show more than the books, considering I like the show much better. (And if you haven't seen the show, Jeremy is Elena's brother, and Margaret doesn't exist. Technically in the show Meredith doesn't exist either, but she IS in my story.)**

**Oopsies. I almost forgot. I don't own anything. If I did I wouldn't be wasting so much time writing fake stories based on a book if I already wrote the book. That just wouldn't make sense.**

Elena was very confused. Stefan had run off a few minutes ago after getting a call from Damon, she couldn't find Jeremy, Bonnie was trying not to kill Caroline, and Elena had no idea what was going on with any of them. The one about Bonnie and Caroline was especially confusing, Bonnie never wanted to kill anyone, even Caroline, who Elena wanted to kill _half_ the time.

But instead of sitting around making her brain hurt trying to figure out the lives of some of the most complicated people in Mystic Falls, Elena decided that she would go find Meredith. If Meredith even wanted to talk to her, that is. Meredith had been acting very weird for the past two weeks, so of course Elena had been trying to figure out what was wrong, her being the curious girl she was. But Elena's efforts were completely wasted; Meredith was very good at keeping secrets.

And Elena suspected that Meredith was involved in one of these secrets right now. When she called and asked what Meredith was doing, all Meredith said was, "I can't talk now. Bye."

Curiosity almost got the best of Elena. She wanted to just march over to over to Meredith's or Bonnie's or Stefan and Damon's and ask WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON. Almost. But she didn't want to be nosy. And she had learned the hard way that if someone didn't want to tell you something, you were most likely better off not knowing.

*****************

After two hours of pure boredom, Elena heard a scuffle in the kitchen. Not that that was very interesting to her, it might have just been a bird outside, but after everything that had happened lately, Elena was starting to listen to very noise when she was alone. Just being cautious.

Okay, so maybe it was more like paranoid.

Elena slowly and silently walked to the kitchen, just making sure no one was there. Her eyes swept across the room, detecting nothing. _There's no_ _one there, Elena. Calm down._ She told herself. But Elena couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone in the house.

"Being home alone probably isn't the smartest idea for you right now, Elena." She heard a voice murmur at her ear. Elena shrieked and jumped almost a foot in the air. She turned around ready to defend herself, only to realize who it was.

"Damon! Don't sneak up on my like that. You almost scared me to _death_." She almost asked how the hell he'd gotten into her house, but then realized that was a stupid question. He could get in whenever he wanted.

"Yeah, well, if you keep staying here alone, next time it won't be an almost. Of course, I don't think they'll be _scaring _you to death, more like eating....."

"The sad thing is, I don't think you're kidding." Elena said grimly. Damon smirked at her.

"So, where is the dear family today? Did they run off so that some new monstrosity could come and suck you dry?"

"Well aren't you just the perfect optimist today." Elena said, shooting Damon a glare. "I don't know where _anyone_ is today. And if I do know where they are, they're acting all weird and secretive." She paused for a moment, then continued, "It's actually kind of annoying. And by the way, isn't Stefan supposed to be with you?"

Something flashed in Damon's eyes, but it went away too fast for Elena to figure out what it was. "Ah, I was wondering how long it would take for you to ask that. Stefan had to take care of a few things. I'm sure you'll be getting a lovey-dovey phone call very soon." Damon's voice went to a higher pitch in a mocking imitation of Stefan's, "Oh, Elena, I missed you so much, but I can't come see you now because Damon is an evil bastard that never shuts up." Even though it was mean, Elena couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous Damon sounded. "Now, I think it's time we leave this empty Elena-baited house and get you somewhere safer. Well, as safe as Elena Gilbert ever seems to be lately." As Damon said this, his face tensed and his eyes darted around the room. Elena's curiosity got the best of her.

"Damon, what did you need help from Stefan with?" She asked him suspiciously, her eyes narrowing,

Damon rearranged his face into a grin, but Elena knew him by now. She could still see the tension in his eyes. "Oh, nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about. Now let's go." Without letting Elena respond, he grabbed her arm and started walking to the door and outside.

"Uh, Damon, I need my-"

"Keys?" Damon interrupted, holding them up.

"Yeah. Those." Elena said, sounding a little dazed. She was still trying to figure out what was wrong with Damon. She was just about to ask him why he had really needed Stefan's help, but she never got the chance.

Because that was when the vampires stalked out from behind the trees and attacked.

**So.........what did you think? I know it's a little boring and short, but I just needed something to start it with. This story might be a little confusing for the first few chapters, but after that it should be a lot easier to follow. I already have the next three chapters done, so just press that awesomely awesome little green button down there and tell me if I should publish them!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I apologize in advance for this long author's note. Okay, so I have to clear something up. I got a couple reviews (Actually, I think it was only one, but whatever) saying how I should have put this fanfic in the TV shows section. Yes, this is based more on the TV show than the books, or at least I think so anyways. But if I put this in the TV shows section, anyone who actually read it would get confused because they have no idea who Meredith is or anything about the Other Power. So yes, I'm keeping this story exactly where it is, in the BOOKS section. If you have a problem with that, then I'm sorry, but I'm not changing it.**

**Also, I know I said I had the next three chapters done, and I did. But my laptop deleted all of them except this one! But I've been home from school sick all week, and I have NOTHING to do, so it won't take me that long to retype them.**

**Also, thank you to all of you who reviewed or put me on their story alerts or favorites!! And now, you can actually read the story instead of me pointlessly ranting.**

Damon didn't pause. He rushed at the vampire closest to Elena, fangs out, and immediately ripped the young boy's throat out. He turned around too fast for Elena to see and jumped on another one.

Elena didn't exactly like to be a damsel in distress, but it wasn't like there was too much she could do. They were vampires, plain and simple. They were faster, stronger, older, smarter, and more skilled than she was. But she couldn't just let them kill Damon! Not that it really seemed like he needed help right now.

Damon had already taken out two of the vampires, working on the third and fourth, all while keeping the totaled seven vampires (technically now five) away from Elena. She could hear snarls and grunts coming from all of them.

But even Damon can't always win when he's severely outnumbered.

As he was fighting two of them at once, one vampire managed to slip away.

And then he managed to slip his hands around Elena's throat.

"Oh, poor little sweet Elena. Shame I have to kill you. You seem like such a nice pet...." The vampire whispered in her ear. She knew his fangs were inches from her neck. Elena squeezed her eyes shut, knowing she was about to die. She just hoped that once they killed her they would leave Damon alone.

And that's when she remembered. Virvaine. One of the very few things that could hurt a vampire. Stefan had given her some and told her to always carry it with her. If she swallowed some now, she wasn't sure if it would get into her bloodstream in time, especially swallowing it dry like this. But it was worth a shot, right? And she had a plan.

The vampire holding her throat was distracted at the moment by watching the fight, so she carefully slipped her hand to her pocket. She took half of the virvaine and brought it silently up to her mouth. Just as she had hoped, the vampire noticed and snarled as he snatched it away.

"Did you really think that would work, little Elena? Some of you humans are so naive, it's like-" But the vampire didn't get to finish his sentence. Elena twisted around as best she could in her current position and shoved all the virvaine she had into the vampire's mouth. He let go of her throat to clutch his own, and she used the advantage to bring both her hands up to keep the vampires mouth closed, forcing him to swallow at some point. Although to Elena, that point couldn't come fast enough.....

But she didn't have to wait. She felt an arm snake around her and pull her away. With inhuman speed, she was in the passenger seat of her car and Damon had the keys in the ignition. The engine roared to life and Damon slammed his foot on the pedal. Elena's body shot back and smacked against the seat as the car lurched forward and Damon sped down the street.

"Sorry. Probably should have told you to put your seat belt on." Elena looked over at him and he flashed her a grin. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"You were just attacked by vampires, and you're talking about my seat belt? Really?"

"Actually,_ you_ were just attacked by vampires. They didn't want me. And yes, I'm talking about your seat belt. Haven't you ever heard 'click it or ticket'?" Elena didn't respond; She wasn't really surprised that Damon was being all calm and collected. He was almost never_ not_ like that.

She looked over at him again, this time it inspect his injuries. It was obvious that the vampires had done a number on him, he was covered in blood. But of course those wounds had healed. There was a large gash on his wrist, though, that hadn't even started to heal yet.

Damon saw her looking and smiled grimly. "We were only in your yard, Elena. There are lots of trees around. Kind of funny, actually, how a twig can be used as a weapon."

"Yeah, well even if you're not a vampire a twig can still be used as a weapon. When we were eight, Caroline always used to try to take my eyes out with the twigs in her sandbox." Damon grinned at her again and eased up on the gas pedal a little.

"Look, I'm sorry about all that back there. I knew some stuff was going on, but I had no idea that would happen." His face turned angry. "And I didn't even get all of them. Two of them ran away like little girls." Damon's expression then turned thoughtful, and a little amused. "Nice trick with the virvaine, though, I didn't even know you had any with you."

"Stefan gave me some a while ago. I keep it with me all the time."

"Yes, Stefan." He looked over at Elena, glancing on the marks on her throat the vampire had left. "We're going to have some explaining to do when he gets home. He won't be too happy."

"Oh, no, we just got ambushed by half a dozen vampires, I'm sure he'll be just the happiest person ever...." Elena said sarcastically. Damon looked over at her, and gave her an actual smile. Elena was starting to see more and more of those lately.

"Actually, I think it was seven vampires. Which is more than half a dozen." Elena rolled her eyes at him. "But I swear Elena, you're like a vampire magnet or something....."

* * *

When they got back to the house, **(Damon and Stefan have their own house, no Mrs. Flowers)** Damon immediately went to the bathroom to wash off the blood. Elena didn't know what to do, so she just sat on the couch and waited.

"I really think you should be more traumatized than this." Elena jumped when she heard Damon's voice.

"Stop doing that." She told him sourly. "And yes, I probably should be more traumatized. And maybe I will be, once you tell me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON."

"We're not exactly sure. All we know is that more and more vampires seem to be showing up here. And a lot of them are very new vampires." Okay, so more vampires were turning up in Mystic Falls. She wasn't too surprised at that, Elena knew that weird things always seemed to be going on in Mystic Falls. But new vampires attacking in packs? Damon wasn't telling her something.

"Damon." She waited until he looked at her to continue. "There's something else, isn't there?"

He looked at her with appraising eyes before he answered. "They all seem hellbent on getting you, Elena. Every last one of them is after you."

Damon watched the emotions flicker through Elena's eyes. Incomprehension, fear, anger, terror, the need to flee, and finally acceptance. He was surprised at that one, really. He hadn't expected that. He thought the only things going through her mind would be terror and the want to run. In this situation, with complete and lethal strangers after you, how could you not want to _run_? But Elena was always surprising him.

The front door slammed closed and Damon and Elena both heard Stefan start to walk to the room they were in. Elena stayed where she was and tried to quickly think of a way to hide the marks on her neck. _Couldn't have brought a scarf, could I?_ She thought sarcastically to herself.

"Elena." Stefan's voice was surprised when he saw her. His eyes widened when he saw her neck. "What the hell happened?"

Damon and Elena both looked at each other.

"I think I'll let Damon explain this one. Since no one ever seems to feel the need to tell me _anything_..."

**I couldn't really remember if there's anything about virvaine in the books, but if not virvaine is a type of plant that's poisonous to vampires.  
**

**Like I said before, I've been home sick most of this week, and I never want to move. But with my hand-dandy laptop, I can keep all you happy without even having to get out of bed! Ah, the magic of technology........**


	3. Chapter 3

**Lalalalalalala.......some of you reviewers are just so nice to me.......It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.**

**Okay, so not really. But they do make me happy! Don't you want to make the poor sick girl happy?**

Elena didn't interrupt Damon once as he explained what had happened. Stefan's anger became more pronounced as Damon continued, and Elena was almost...afraid to speak. She wasn't afraid of Stefan, she just didn't like seeing him angry.

Damon didn't exactly look too happy either, especially when he got to the part about how she had gotten the marks on her neck.

When Damon finished, Stefan looked over at Elena, who stared steadily back at him. He took this to mean that she was okay, the looked back over at Damon.

"So they just ambushed you in Elena's front yard?" He asked.

"Yep."

"Do you think anyone saw anything?"

"Nope."

"There were seven?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

"And one of them got away?"

"Yep. Possibly two, it depends on if the vamp that got Elena swallowed the virvaine she shoved down his throat." As he said this, Damon looked over at Elena and winked at her.

Stefan took a deep breath and walked over to the window. Then he looked back at Elena. "Guess we'll have to get you some more virvaine." He said, smiling wearily.

Elena blew out her breath in frustration. "Vampires I don't even remotely know just attacked me. And they were outside _my_ house. I know that something's going on. Damon told me that you know that they're all after _me_!" Stefan threw Damon a sharp look, but Elena continued angrily. "If vampires are trying to kill me, I want to know what the _hell_ is going on!"

"Well, after that little speech, how could we _not_ tell you?" Damon said, looking amused, yet still a little surprised at Elena's outburst. "Yes, we knew they were after you. That's why I called Stefan this afternoon. We've known that there have been vampires in the area for a while. In all the towns surrounding Mystic Falls, there have been almost a hundred attacks lately. In all the towns except here."

"It was like they were staying away for a specific reason. So we started to investigate." Stefan chimed in.

"Of course, everyone thinks there's some kind of rabid cougar on the loose." Damon added with subtle glint of amusement in his eyes. "We didn't really have to investigate much to figure out why they were staying away. They solved that mystery for us. He said with grim humor. I came home and they had left a pretty......obvious note."

"Rabid cougar? That just sounds.....perverted, Damon. What do you mean by obvious?" Elena asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Let's just say.....they found a......creative way to let us know what they wanted." Elena was going to ask what the heck that meant, but decided against it. Damon always told her the truth when Stefan thought it was too brutal for her to hear, so if _Damon_ didn't want to tell her, then she was probably better off not knowing.

"So do we have any idea why they're all after me?" Stefan and Damon both shook their heads.

"That's what we were doing today. Trying to figure out what they want and who's behind this all." Stefan explained.

"What do you mean, who's behind it?"

"I told you earlier, Elena, most of the vampires are fairly new. Not all of them, but it seems like they were _all_ taught to fight. There's no way all of these vampires could just randomly be after you, none of them even know you. So someone has to be controlling them, telling them what do." Damon told her.

_So someone's ordering around a bunch of vampires to kill me._ Elena thought. _How nice_ _of them to think of me_.

Stefan and Damon were both staring at each other, seemingly arguing telepathically. Elena wasn't going to interrupt them.

Instead she thought back to when she had no idea that vampires existed. When Bonnie had no idea she was a witch. When poor Vickie Bennett was still normal. Well, semi-normal. When no one was getting attacked in the town of Mystic Falls.

But then Elena realized there was no point in thinking about the past. She had excepted the fact that vampires existed. Bonnie was excepting what she could do. And really, Elena couldn't imagine it any other way. Stefan and Damon had both become a part of her life now, and the whole witchcraft thing was part of Bonnie.

And besides, what fun would life be without the supernatural?

"Fine!" Stefan finally broke out, sounding exasperated. Damon looked smug.

"What?" Elena asked slowly.

It was Damon who answered. "Well, since we're sure there are more vampires in town, and we need to figure out what's going on, and you need to be watched because apparently these psychos have no problems attacking in the open....."

"What?" Elena asked again, wondering where in the world this was going.

Damon answered again, looking even more smug than before. "You're going to need a bodyguard........"

**Sorrysorrysorry! I know it's short, but I already typed this once and I kind of got annoyed typing it again so I left out a few things. Nothing important though. And besides, this is the second chapter today. You should feel special.**

**You want to know what I find amusing? How people put this story on their favorites for the first chapter. It's like, how do you have any idea that the story's going to be nay good from the first chapter? Not that I mind, though. If you want to put this fanfic on your favorites, who am I to stop you........  
**

**And Damon's going to be bodyguard ....... How do you think that's gonna go? ~Tee hee~  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Have you ever seen those army commercials in the previews at the movie theater? They're all so freaking long!!! And if someone doesn't want to join the army, a commercial isn't going to convince them!! Now, I have absolutely no problem with the army. A lot of my cousins are in it, stationed in Germany and Texas. But I just think that a 5 minute commercial isn't going to convince someone to join the army!!**

**Sorry. I had to do that. And now you can actually read something completely irrelevant to me_ or_ my feelings on army commercials.**

_A bodyguard. Seriously?_ Elena felt like she was a president under siege or something. Well, not exactly a president. But you get the point.

"And what exactly does that entitle, Damon?" Elena asked him tersely.

"Oh, not much, just making sure you're never anywhere alone. I don't think we have to worry about them during the day too much, but I'll be around just to be safe. And don't worry, I'll mostly be in the shadows."

"So you'll pretty much be like a stalker?" Elena asked. Damon flashed her an evil grin.

"Something like that. And while I'm being your own personal vampire stalker, Stefan will be trying to figure out who wants to cut your pretty little head off."

"Nice way to put it, Damon." Stefan told him sarcastically. Then he turned to Elena and asked, "Are you okay with this?"

Elena sighed. "I guess I have to be." It wasn't that she minded that Damon was going to be the one doing it, she wouldn't have cared either way. It was just the fact that she was going to have to be constantly watched. It was bad enough that vampires she didn't even know were after her, now she was going to be like a lion at the zoo. Always being watched. She knew it was for her own safety, but that didn't make her like it any more.

There was an awkward silence before Damon finally said, "Well, I guess I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." With that, he got up and walked out of the room. Stefan watched him walk away before turning back to Elena.

"You know, you don't _have _to be okay with this. I'm sure we can figure out another way."

She sighed. "I know. But I'm okay with it. Really. If I'm going to be ambushed by more strange vampires, having Damon by my side probably won't hurt, will it?" She grinned and Stefan gave her a sad smile back and stood up.

"I guess we should get you some more virvaine."

*****************

Damon drove Elena to Bonnie's. She protested on the way there, but Damon told her it would be safer if she stayed away home tonight.

"But what about Jeremy and Aunt Judith?"

"Don't worry. Stefan's got it covered. And it really doesn't matter, just as long as they don't try to go outside at all anymore tonight." And she couldn't really argue with that. So Damon drove her to Bonnie's, and she complied.

"I'll be out here all night, so don't worry." Damon told her as she was getting out of the car. He actually sounded serious for once.

"I don't know if I should tell Bonnie that. She might be tempted to come out here and set you on fire." Elena joked.

"And you were criticizing me for talking about _seat belts_ after we were attacked. Now you're talking about me getting set on fire? Gee, Elena, break my ego, why don't you."

"Yeah, 'cause your ego can really be broken." Elena muttered as she walked to the front porch. She heard Damon laughing behind her.

* * *

An hour later, Elena and Bonnie both sat in Bonnie's room. Elena had just explained everything that had happened that day.

"What, so now Damon just has to follow you around all the time?"

Of course, that's the first part Bonnie's going to comment on. "Pretty much. Don't you want to know how the hell we're going to figure out who's behind all this?"

Bonnie just raised her eyebrows, her expression saying _I'm-not-asking-because-I-know-you-don't-know._ Elena sighed. Bonnie was right. Elena had no idea how they were going to figure this out.

"Do you have any idea why they want _you_?"

"No. And that's almost what scares me the most. There's a vampire out there hellbent on getting me. They're willing to get so many other people killed, just as long as I'm dead. The fact that we have no idea who it is....What are we going to _do_ Bonnie?" Elena's eyes shone with unshed tears.

"I don't know......" There were a few minutes of silence.

"You know, even if we do figure this out, I don't know how we're supposed to stop it. Stefan and Damon said there were more vampires than the ones that attacked today." Elena looked up at Bonnie with desperate eyes. "We can't stop them, Bonnie. There's no way."

Bonnie smiled at her friend sadly. "Yeah, not exactly like Twilight, is it, where there's a whole_ army_ of vampire royalty who can just kill them all for us, is there. We have to do this ourselves."

"But how, Bonnie? We don't know how many of them there are, but we're severely outnumbered. And we don't even know who's doing all this!" Elena's voice started rising towards the end, and Bonnie shushed her.

"I know, Elena. Didn't you say that Stefan and Damon are going to investigate all this?" Elena nodded. "Well, I think it's time we do a little investigating of our own........"

"And how exactly do we plan on doing that?" Elena asked with an amused half smile.

"I'm sure we can find something in one of my grandma's books...." Both girls smiled at eachother, hoping that they wouldn't find themselves in any more trouble, but wondering if they might uncover a few interesting secrets.

**Tada! Another chapter is done! Feel like pressing that little green button? Well I don't care if you don't! Press it anyways! Who knows, maybe my author's notes will get shorter and my chapters will get longer.........*hint hint* *wink wink***

**And yes, this still is an Elena/Damon story, but I just thought that we needed to have a little fun on the way......  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Haha I'm kind of nervous for school tomorrow......decisions, decisions......So I decided to write a new chapter to distract myself. Aren't you lucky that I'm one of the most indecisive people in the world.....**

_I swear, he really_ is_ a stalker._ Elena thought to herself as she sat in English, her last class of the day. Damon had been watching the school all day, she knew, even if she hadn't seen him at all.

Elena just hoped he had enough control. She really didn't want to hear about another "animal attack" on one of the students at her school.

Damon had drove her to school that day, and he was going to drive her home too. Elena had stayed at Bonnie's over the whole weekend; It had been kind of amusing, because Bonnie had purposely been insulting "that bloodsucking leechy bastard" (A.K.A. Damon) because she knew he was just outside the window, listening. They'd heard banging on the window more than once.

"Elena, would you like to answer the question for us?"

Apparently the fact that she wasn't paying attention had been more obvious than she'd thought. "Ummm....No thank you, miss."

She raised her eyebrows and looked at Elena like she had just confessed to the ultimate sin. "No thank you? Do you even know what the question was, Elena?"

"Umm....No miss."

She sighed largely, like it was such a huge deal that she had to repeat the question. "What was Othello's major conflict. That was the question. Now would you care to answer it?"

"No miss, I would not care to answer it." The teacher glared at her and turned to another student as Elena heard snickering from other students.

Elena didn't understand why they were always studying Shakespeare, they'd been studying him since the eighth grade. Yet every year, they studied him more and had to decipher the meaning of all his words that were way too confusing for anyone but the AP students to understand.

Elena wondered how Stefan, and even Damon, could stand it. She knew they didn't go to school every year, but after over a century, how could they stand to even _look_ at a school anymore? The same things, over and over and _over_ again........If the Cullen family was real, Elena would have felt _very_ sorry for them.

Elena almost looked to the sky and thanked the lord when the bell rang. As she was walking to the door, Bonnie sidled up to her with a smile and an amused look on her face.

"What?" Elena asked, a little worried.

"Oh, no miss, I wouldn't care to answer it." Bonnie said in a bad imitation of Elena.

"What!?" She exclaimed. "She asked me if I would care to answer the question, and I politely said no. She never _told_ me to answer it." Bonnie just rolled her eyes and asked if Damon was still being super-vampire-stalker.

"Bonnie, it's only been like, a day and a half. And we haven't even come remotely close to figuring out what's going on. At least, that's what Damon said. I wouldn't really know, considering I was at your house all weekend."

Bonnie got an evil gleam in her eyes, which almost scared Elena more than the amused gleam. "Don't forget, we've still got a few things to go through on our own." Elena laughed. Her and Bonnie planned on going through some of Bonnie's grandma's things to see if they could find anything useful.......Not that they would mind finding a few unuseful things. They both hoped that they might uncover a few incriminating things about some of the people in their town.....

Of course, there are some secrets that are better off left alone.

************

Elena was in the car on the way home, arguing with Damon on weather or not she should go home.

"I have to go home at some time. Aunt Judith and Jeremy are going to get very suspicious if I never come home. Besides, I can't spend every night at Bonnie's. And I _want_ to go home. I want to sleep in my own bed and eat out of my own fridge." Damon raised an eyebrow and almost laughed at this.

"You want to eat out of your own fridge? That's a pretty odd reason to want to go home...."

Elena glared at him. "Yes, I want to eat out of my own fridge. And what's the difference between you 'protecting' me at Bonnie's house or 'protecting' me at my house?"

"The difference is that at Bonnie's there's a less chance of people who don't know about us seeing an attack and calling the cops about 'vampires gone wild.'" He muttered.

"Well, I'm the one driving. And I'm driving to my house." Elena told him smugly.

"You know I can just make you drive in the other direction." He said, staring at her.

"But you won't."

"Are you sure about that?"

Elena took a minute to consider it. She finally answered, "Yes, I'm sure."

"You might be right. Or you might not be." He also took a minute to consider. "I'm not really sure."

"Oh my God, did I hear right? The almighty knows-it-all Damon Salvatore just admitted to not knowing something?" He just shook his head and rolled his eyes at her.

Elena was surprised enough that he'd admitted to not knowing something, but the fact that he'd admitted to not knowing whether or not he would really compel her mind......Elena knew he wasn't _all_ bad. Damon had done many bad things, yes, she knew that, but every good person has some evil in them. Couldn't it be the same the other way around? Even Damon sometimes didn't have a hidden agenda.....But Elena was never really sure with Damon, was she?

And she hated that he always made her so confused! You never _could_ be sure with Damon, you never knew what to expect. Elena hated being confused. She also hated that he made her feel so out of control, and how he made her feel helpless and _in_ control, so vulnerable yet so strong and independent, all at the same time. She hated it!

But she could never bring herself to actually hate him.

Not even for Stefan.

And that _almost_ made her feel terrible.....But Stefan was trusting Damon, right? Well, not necessarily trusting _him_, but he was trusting that Damon would take care of her, keep her safe.

And that's what he'd been doing. It was possible that he was doing this for an ulterior motive, yes, but somehow Elena didn't think so.

And if you can't trust yourself, who can you trust?

**Sorry if this chapter was kind of boring, but it was necessary to get Elena's.....feelings, or whatever, out there. And I'm sorry it wasn't longer, but I have to go watch Lost now. (Best show ever!!! But also the most confusing....) And if you give this poor little review whore some more reviews, she might decide to make another chapter very quickly............**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry it took so long. (Even though it's really only been a little over a week.) But I finally finished it! I've been crazy busy, but I don't really think you care about hearing why. But I will tell you that I had six tests and four quizzes last week, and I really didn't want to fail........Anywho, here's the next chapter!**

**Elena POV**

Having your own stalker? It gets kind of creepy after a while. Having your own _vampire_ stalker? Gets even creepier. A war between vampires because they're after _you_? Well, that one's creepy from the start. And the fact that no one had figured anything out......

Let's just say it hasn't been the best week ever.

I knew Damon left to go hunting sometimes, but it was always during the day. I'd argued with Stefan the other day about why I really even needed Damon; The other vampires couldn't come out during the day, and they couldn't get into my house at night. The conversation had gone something like this:

"Stefan, I'm tired of Damon prowling around behind me all the time!"

"Prowling?"

"Shadowing, stalking, following, I don't care what you call it! I just want it to be done!"

He sighs and says, "So do I. But it's the best way to keep you safe."

"I don't care!"

"Well I do. Damon's going to keep protecting you until this is all over." His voice had that steely tone you can never disagree with.

Especially when that tone is coming from a vampire.

So I grumbled and said, "Fine. But I swear we need to put a bell on him so I'll know when he's coming. He always just _has_ to sneak up on me......."

And that conversation is why I'm sitting in my room doing History homework while Damon sits on the windowsill telling me how wrong the stuff they teach us.

I sighed. "Damon, I get enough of this crap at school. Do I really need a history lesson from you, too?"

"Fine then. Let them teach you all the wrong things."

"Yes, well, all the wrong things are the right answers on the test, so as long as I get those right, I don't care if the facts are wrong. The world seems to think they're the right facts, so I'm just going to go with that."

Damon stared at me for a moment before answering. "That didn't make much sense. And I don't see how you could even know what the right facts are, considering you've been stuck on that one question for the past twenty minutes." I stuck my tongue out at him as he walked over and sat down on the bed right behind me. He read the question with his head resting on my shoulder.

I pretended not to notice.

We sat like that for ten minutes while he helped me finish my homework. He actually gave me the _right_ facts, which were apparently technically the wrong facts, but were really the right ones because they would get me an A.

"You know, if they knew the truth about what really caused the civil war, they'd-"

I cut him off and turned my head to look at him. "I'll say this again, Damon. I. Don't. Care. If you tell me anything, then I'm going to get all confused and write down what you tell me, and then they're all going to think I'm completely insane because I say something about how the Revolutionary War never really happened but some other war called the Apocalyptic Revo-elutionary war _did,_ and how-"

"Elena." I stopped talking.

And then we had one of those......moments. You know, one of those completely cliched moments where no one says anything, and you just feel......something.

His head was still on my shoulder, and my head was turned to face him. I'm not going to say that we stared into eachother's eyes for hours, because it was really probably only about thirty seconds.

I felt myself moving towards him very very slowly, and I felt him do the same. We weren't very far apart, so in just a few seconds our lips were just centimeters away. I was just about to close that little distance when........Drum roll, please...........

"ELENA!!!!!!! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE. RIGHT. NOW." I heard Bonnie scream.

I should have been upset. And I was, believe me. I had been SO close. But I just started bursting out laughing. Hysterically.

Damon looked at me and half smiled. "I didn't even hear her come in." So of course, I started laughing harder.

"ELENA!!!" Bonnie shrieked.

I finally stopped laughing, and walked down the stairs, still gasping for breath. When I got downstairs, Bonnie had that impatient look she gets all the time.

"What?"

"Where the_ hell_ is Caroline?!?!!?"

"Umm.......Am I supposed to know?"

She glared at me, obviously fuming. "Yes, you should. She told me she was coming to find you so you could be a mediator or whatever."

I raised an eyebrow. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. "A mediator for what?"

She sighed frustratedly, like it was too much to explain. "You know that new guy who's working at Isabelle Hannegan's mom's store?" I nodded. Isabelle's mom owned one of the few clothing stores in Mystic Falls, and they'd hired the new guy in town, Jace Brahman. From what I'd heard, he wasn't the worst looking person in the world....

"Well, Caroline _knows_ I like him. We flirt all the time; I come in there almost every day. And Caroline's _seen_ me do it. And she hasn't done anything about it for the past three weeks. And now last week, suddenly, she just butts into our conversation and starts batting her eyelashes, asking him if he wants her to show him around the town." Her eyes were blazing by this time. "What is there to show??!!?! It's a very little town. There's a place to eat, some houses, and a school. How is that anything to show?!"

Well, at least now I understood why Bonnie had wanted to kill Caroline last week.

And hey, that's one mystery solved. Only about thirty more to go.

Then again, this was a kind of ridiculous thing to argue about.

"No, she's not here. I haven't seen her at all today, except once during lunch." Bonnie sighed angrily again.

"I know where you can probably find her." I almost screamed as I heard a voice behind me. As it was, I still did make a girly little breathy shriek. Damon smirked as he walked up next to me.

"Bell, I swear." I muttered, causing him to smirk more.

Then he turned his attention to Bonnie. "She's probably over at Vickie Bennet's. She's hiding there, I guess."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes and asked how he knew.

Damon tapped a finger against the side of his head. "Because I can tell." She huffed and turned around to walk out the door.

"What, no goodbye?" I shouted teasingly as she stormed out to find Caroline.

"I guess walking out and slamming a door in your face is better than a goodbye." Damon said, smirking at me. I narrowed my eyes at him and suddenly got an idea. I walked over to the closet and started digging around. It probably took me almost ten minutes to find it, but I finally did, shouting, "Ah-ha!"

"Elena......?" Damon's voice came out hesitant and cautious.

I jumped up and held out a little bell in front of his face. We'd had a kitten once when I was eight or nine, and my dad always used to step on its tail, so we'd bought it a little bright green bell so he would know when it was around. When the cat got older and ran away, we'd put it in the closet and never used again for anything else.

Damon's eyes widened. "You weren't kidding." He murmered.

I giggled. "Nope." I reached up and tied the ribbon the bell hung on loosely around his neck. I had to get very close to do so, because he's so much taller than me, and I felt the same feeling I'd felt before when we were on my bed. It was definitely some kind of tension, but not the kind you can't stand. It was kind of nice, but I _really _wanted to kiss him.

And I knew I shouldn't.

I have Stefan. He's always taken care of me, he tries to be a good person even though he's a 'creature of the night', and he tries to make up for what he is.

I knew all that, and I still wanted to kiss Damon.

I finally came to my senses and pulled away. I jingled the bell a little bit and smiled as I took a few steps back.

He looked down at it, contemplating for a moment. Then he looked back at me and gave me a genuine smile. "I guess it could work. And I guess I could keep it on, since it makes you feel better."

I smiled a little uncomfortably, feeling that uncontrollable need to kiss him again.

"But do I have to wear it on my neck?" This time I really did smile.

"I guess not. Just keep it somewhere where it'll still actually make a noise. I'm tired of screaming bloody murder every time you walk into a room. You know, one of these days one of the neighbors is going to hear me and call the police. And you're going to have to explain why you're not a creepy-stalker-rapist-slash-homicidal-maniac, because I'm not going to." I paused for a moment, then added, "Actually, you'll have to explain why you're not a creepy rapist slash homicidal maniac. You are a stalker. And you wouldn't want to lie to the poor cops, would you?" I said innocently.

Damon laughed. "Sweetheart, you know how long I've been alive. You think in all that time, I've never lied to a cop?"

"Yes, I do think that. I _know_ that. You don't lie to them, you just compel their minds."

"Ah, you just know me too well, don't you......."

**Haha, aren't I just so evil.....I bet some of you thought they were going to kiss this chapter, didn't you? Well nope! Not yet. Still got a few chapters before that happens.........**

**So hey, guess what? Anyone who answers this special little question right gets an excerpt from the next chapter!**

**Who's finally going to make an appearance in the next chapter? **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: SorrySorrySorry! *Hides in closet* Please Please Please don't kill me. My laptop got this messed-up virus on it and it ended up deleting ALL my VD chapters. And my Darkest Powers chapters, though I doubt any of you care about that. Anyways, on with the story!**

**Lalalala.......Don't own anything. Nope. Just me and my imagination stealing a few characters.  
**

**Songs:**

**Follow Me Down- 3OH!3 Hitch**

**Nothing Left To Lose- Mat Kearney**

**Young Money- Vita Chambers  
**

After the almost-kiss with Damon, I didn't feel as guilty as I should have.

Then again, I think the constant tension was punishment enough.

It didn't really seem to bother Damon; In fact, he seemed to enjoy it.

Which honestly didn't surprise me.

When Stefan called and Damon answered and Stefan asked if he could talk to me, I told Damon to tell him I'd fallen asleep.

Because how could you tell your loving boyfriend that you were starting to have feelings for his brother?

I knew if I even attempted to talk to Stefan, I would blurt it out. I knew if I even tried talking to Damon, I'd still blurt it out. So I stayed quiet, did my homework like a good little girl, and then went to bed at a respectable time.

It didn't really help that Damon was watching me the whole time.

It didn't help that I dreamed about him that night.

And it didn't help that he was still watching when I woke up in the morning.

"You know, Damon, you're starting to take this stalker thing pretty seriously." I told him casually as I prepared a bowl of cereal. These were the first words I'd said to him since that moment yesterday, and I'd planned them carefully in my head so that nothing could accidentally slip out.

Damon looked at me in that calculating way of his before he answered, "I guess I am. Wouldn't want the scary people to bit your pretty little head off."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Right, 'cause I'm sure you care _so_ much."

Damon was suddenly right in front of me, his eyes glowing with an intensity I don't think I'd ever seen before. I couldn't seem to look away, and without breaking his gaze, Damon reached down to take the cereal bowl out of my hand and set it on the counter. "Actually Elena, I think you'd be surprised by how much I actually _do_ care." And then he leaned over the island counter, put his hands around my face, and leaned in.

And this time it wasn't an almost moment.

He pressed his lips to mine, and they were surprisingly soft and warm. I don't know how long it lasted, but it ended when I pulled away and breathlessly said, "I think it's time to get to school." Damon gave me half a smirk, but his eyes were still bright. I was sure my face was flushed, so I turned my back on him and walked outside to the car, waiting for him.

This was going to be a_ long_ day.

***************

You know how people always say tension goes away with time. Well they're _wrong._ Whatever was going on with Damon was just getting worse. I think if I had the option to jump down the rabbit hole right now, I'd do it.

Which is saying something. The whole concept of Alice In Wonderland just freaks me out.

I could sense Damon all day, closer than I would have liked. And when lunch came around, I just knew he would be there.

And Stefan would be there too.

I had a pretty bad feeling that the tension was noticeable to everyone else too. _Especially_ Stefan. And I could be a good liar, sometimes, but I didn't think I could lie my way through this one. Which left it to Damon. And I knew Stefan wouldn't trust it coming from Damon.

Which still left it to me.

And since I didn't think I could lie my way through it without accidentally spilling something, I knew I had to make it seem like nothing was wrong. So when I got to lunch, I tried to act completely normal.

Which was simple, as long as Damon didn't look at me. Because whenever he did, my cheeks flushed and that tension was present again.

Truthfully, I had no idea if Stefan or anyone else picked up on it. Of course, I hoped not, but since when does that seem to matter?

Damon drove me home, as usual, and Stefan told me that he'd found a lead last night and that he would be out of town for the next few days to follow it.

Jeez, nice time to leave me alone with your brother, Stefan. Yeah, perfect timing. (Is anyone else sensing sarcasm?)

"Elena. Stop feeling so guilty." Damon's voice broke me out of my mind as we sat on the couch.

I looked at him blankly and blinked for a few seconds to clear my head. "Actually, I wasn't feeling guilty, even though I should be."

He sighed. "Then what's going on in that pretty little blond head of yours?"

I raised my eyebrows; I couldn't believe that Damon was asking, it really wasn't like him. But I decided if he was going to act like a normal person for a few minutes, I was going to take advantage of it. "I was just thinking about how I think I take Stefan for granted sometimes." I paused, not sure if I should tell him the next part. I really didn't want to, but I figured it would be easier to willingly say it instead of blurting it out somewhere along the line. "And I was thinking about how ironic your brother's impeccable timing is."

Damon smirked. "Well, Elena, looks like you've got some interesting things going on in your head."

My face flushed, and I smacked his arm. 'That's not what I was thinking about!" Actually, it kind of was.

And this is where I should really start to feel guilty. But for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to feel anything that had to do with Stefan.

And I know how cruel that is. Stefan had always taken care of me, protected me. But there was something else about Damon that I couldn't explain....He might have been a complete ass when I'd met him, but it seemed like something had changed. Like he'd grown up or something. He'd gotten easier to talk to, too. With Stefan there were some things I was a little afraid to tell him for fear of his reaction, but with Damon I knew that he wasn't about to go off and kill someone for me.

I wasn't sure if that was just because he didn't care or because he did, but honestly, it didn't really matter. I felt like I could go to him for anything, but we could still have fun.

But none of this meant that he wasn't a completely evil and sadistic psycho anymore.

Truthfully? With Damon, I almost think you can't tell the difference.

**Sorry it was so horrible and short, but I want to get back to my book. Not that that's going to happen anytime soon, considering it's past one in the morning right now and RHIANNON LIKES HER SLEEP! So press the button and maybe I'll wake up to write another chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm sorry these updates are so slow! But this story is harder to right than my other two......And I'm really honestly sorry, because you guys actually REVIEW! Unlike some people who _supposedly_ like my other stories........**

**Songs:**

**Sorry, no songs for this chapter. I was actually watching a movie when I was writing this. If you want to know what movie it was, go press that little button down there. Well, read first. Then press the button.**

"Natural as the wind? Did you really just say that the two of us is as natural as the wind?"

Damon sighed. "Yes, Elena. That is what I said. Listening is a skill. Apparently one that you don't have.

I wasn't going to comment on that one. "Damon," I said, exasperated. "There is _nothing_ natural about the two of us. To be truthful, there isn't much that's natural about me and Stefan, either, but with_ you_ and me, there is nothing. Nada. Non. Nien. And I don't know how to say it in any other languages. And natural as the _wind_? There isn't much natural about the wind. It's all blowy and cold and you never know if it's going to be fast or if it's going to blow you over. And wind is the worst thing in hurricanes and tornadoes! I know that's nature, Damon, but there's nothing natural about it."

He smiled. "Okay, Elena. Whatever you say."

Damon was being so....different. It was kind of freaking me out. I don't know if it was because Stefan wasn't here or because we'd kissed, but he was acting different. UnDamonlike. Like I said, it was freaking me out.

Of course he kept teasing, but it wasn't so cruel anymore.

And it had only been a day and a half.

I was interrupted by a sudden knock at the door.

Gee, that doesn't sound ominous and suspicious, does it?

But when I opened the door, it was just Bonnie. She looked at Damon, who was standing right behind me, and then gave me a meaningful look. I sighed. "Damon, go find something to do. Something that _doesn't_ involve eavesdropping on us."

I felt him blow out o breath from behind me. "Fine. Just don't get attacked or anything. I'll never live it down if you do. Besides, I might actually kind of miss you. You make things exciting." I knew he was smirking.

I twisted around to look at him, and he was. I gave him a _It's-time-for-you-to-go-away_ look. He sighed and said, "Alright, I'm going." Then he did something that surprised me even more than his new attitude. He leaned in and kissed my forehead, and then walked out the door.

Bonnie stared at me incredulously. I just shook my head and said, "I don't know any better than you do, Bonnie."

We walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. After a few moments of awkward silence, I asked, "So did you find anything interesting?"

Bonnie grinned mischievously, like she'd been waiting for me to ask. "Oh, yes." Then her face turned a little grim and annoyed. "I found something a little weird about Damon. There was this letter that someone sent Gran, and it says......Just read it."

Bonnie pulled something out of her pocket, a piece of paper folded many times over. I took it from her and started to read. **(A/N: I'm not really sure what Bonnie's grandma's name is, so I'm just saying it's Kaitlyn.)**

_You asked me to write you_, _Kaitlyn, if I ever saw one of the....supernatural. I hope this doesn't get into the wrong hands, but I've used every precaution I can, and that's the best I can do. I know I'm young and I know I have a lot to learn, but you always told me I was powereful, even when I was fourteen. Now that I'm nineteen, things don't seem to be getting any easier.  
_

_I've been seeing weird things around here in Phoenix a lot lately, and I knew it was a sign that there was a vampire somewhere around, but I hadn't been able to track him down. And it seemed that the only people being drained of blood were elderly people who were terminally ill and living in their homes. The news, of course, as they always do, explained it as animal attacks going after the weak. You'd think after so long they'd be able to come up with a new excuse, but no. It's always animal attacks, no matter where you are._

_I was trying to figure out what was going on, and especially why it was only the elderly being killed. Don't the vampires usually like young and feisty, as bad as that sounds?_

_But back to the point. I was walking down the street, and no one was there, but then suddenly there was. Before I could even do anything, he'd tied my hands behind my back and I think he was doing something with a cloth that made my brain all foggy so I couldn't do anything to him. He wasn't a vampire, though._

_I'm not sure what happened the rest of the day, but I woke up sometime during the evening with this man standing over me with a knife at my throat. I won't go in to specifics, but needless to say he _did_ try to kill me._

Try_ being the key word._

_Because suddenly there was another guy behind this man, and he was pulling him off me. Before I knew what was happening, he was sinking his teeth into the attackers neck. I was still a little dazed, and even if I'd tried to get up I don't think I would have been able to. And then he was kneeling next to me, asking me if I was okay._

_I shouted a few choice words, but when I looked into his head I could see he wasn't about to attack me. So I let him help me up and take me home. He was kind and nice, and it scared me a little. I knew he was the one who'd been killing all the elderly people, but I wasn't going to ask him anything. Never reveal you know, isn't that what you always said?  
_

_But see, here's the thing, Kaitlyn. He was walking around. In the sun._

_And when I asked him his name, you know what he said? Damon. Damon Salvatore._

_I don't know much about them, and I know you don't either, but I'd be careful, Kaitlyn. A vampire from Mystic Falls that can walk around in the sun? _

_All I can say is Be Careful. The Salvatore's always come back. Isn't that what you told me?_

_Maddie_

I couldn't believe what I'd just read. I looked up at Bonnie numbly, and she smiled weakly at me. "I know, Damon actually being a normal person. I'm amazed. But there's something even scarier. Look at the date. It's only from a year ago, Elena. Right before the time when Damon came here." I looked up at the corner of the letter to see that Bonnie was right. It was only a year ago that a girl named Maddie had sent a letter about Damon being a nice person.

Had he been different before he'd showed up in Mystic Falls? I'd always known he'd done bad things, but was he only so evil and cruel when he'd met me because I reminded him so much of Katherine?

That was a scary thought.

But now he was being an almost normal person to me, and I was pretty sure he wasn't doing this just so he could do something horrible again. And the fact that he'd helped a girl who'd really needed it just made me even more sure.

"Bonnie, what am I supposed to do with this?" I said, still looking down at the letter that was held limply in my hands. She knew that I wasn't talking about the letter, but the information that I'd just been given.

"I don't really know, Elena. But I thought you'd want to know, even though it probably just confused you more. And even if it changes your opinion of him in a way I don't agree with."

I smiled sadly at Bonnie. "You know, you really are a good friend Bonnie. Thank you for not keeping this a secret."

She smiled at me, a real smile. "I think I'll leave you to ponder this new piece of info." I quirked an eyebrow. "Don't think I didn't see the look he gave when he left. Not to mention what he_ did _before he left."

I sighed. "Bonnie, I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

She smiled wearily at me. "I don't know either, Elena. Just don't forget that you'll always have Stefan, no matter what you do. With Damon, you can never really know." Then she got up and walked out of the room. The slam of the door echoed throughout the whole house.

I wasn't alone more than five minutes before Damon came back. I'd expected this, so I'd hid the letter in Jeremy's room where I knew he would never find it. I'd considered asking Damon about the letter, but I'd decided against it. I couldn't ask him when I didn't even know how I felt about him.

"You look distressed, Elena. Did Bonnie put some upsetting ideas in that pretty little head of yours?" He asked as he sat down next to me on the couch.

I tried to smile, but I'm pretty sure it was more of a grimace. "You could say that."

Damon looked genuinely worried. "Is something wrong?"

I sighed and looked at the blank T.V. screen. "No, not really. I just need to think about a few things I'd rather not think about right now."

There were a few minutes of comfortable silence, and then I felt Damon's fingers twining with mine on the hand resting on my thigh. I looked down in numb surprise, but didn't move my hand. We sat like that for a long time, except at one point we finally turned on the T.V. We started watching reruns of House, neither of us inclined to move.

I'm not sure when I fell asleep, but I guess I did, because I suddenly woke up in the dark with only the glow of the T.V. to light up the room. My head was on Damon's shoulder and our hands were still twined. He must have thrown a blanket that was laying nearby over me at some point, because I was covered in it now while my legs were curled up on the couch, also covered by the blanket. Or afghan. Whatever.

I blinked groggily and cleared my throat, though I didn't move. Damon looked down at me and smiled. "Good morning, sleepyhead."

I closed my eyes again and snuggled into him a little more. "Morning implies sunlight, Damon. I don't see any sun."

Even though I couldn't see anything, I knew he was rolling his eyes. "No, Elena, it doesn't always have to be sunny to be morning. What about when it's raining? Besides, it's two AM. AM means morning, so therefore that's what it is."

I smiled. "Okay. Sure. We'll go with that." I furrowed my brow, my eyes still closed. "Why do they even call it AM and PM? Is that supposed to stand for something?"

Damon laughed silently, I could feel the shoulder my head was resting on shaking. "I'm not sure. We'll have to find that out."

"Mhmmm." I mumbled, nodding a little.

I felt Damon shift slightly as he moved his head down to look at me. Then he took his hand out of mine so he could put arm around my shoulder and encircle my waist. He pulled me a little closer to him, and I snuggled in to help him. The small part of me told me not to do it, but even the resistant part of my brain wasn't awake enough to sound very strong. Besides, Damon was warm and comfortable. He brought his other arm around me to encircle the rest of me, and then he kissed my hair. I was already almost asleep again.

The only thought that registered in my brain before I succumbed to sleep was:

So.

Not.

Damon.

* * *

When I woke up in the morning, I was still against Damon. I didn't think about moving until I remembered what had happened last night. Almost everything Damon had done was nothing like him. Well, nothing like the Damon I knew anyways.

I quickly sat up, ripping myself from his embrace and getting a head rush in the process. I inched away from Damon and heard him sigh. "Elena, when are you going to get that you don't need to be afraid of me? I know you think I'm evil sometimes and I know you love Stefan, but believe me when I say that I'm not pretending what I feel for you just to make Stefan angry. Because I'm _not _faking these feelings." He sighed again. "Sometimes I wish I was. But then I see you, and I feel like it's....right somehow. And I can't pretend that I don't feel that."

This was the most emotional speech I'd ever heard Damon give, but he just kept going. "These feelings are too strong to pretend they aren't there." He looked at me, and even though I didn't want to, I looked back. "And I know you feel those things sometimes too. I know you try to ignore them." He kept looking, his eyes almost pleading. And that really scared me. "So I'm going to ask you this once. Elena, will you please, please, stop trying to ignore what you feel for me?"

I think the word 'please' is what did it for me. Just the fact that Damon had said that word.....My resistance snapped and I quickly leaned towards him to press my lips to his.

This kiss took my breath away. It was different from all the others somehow. I think it was the fact that it wasn't a surprise this time, that I'd willingly given in and I'd admitted my own feelings to myself.

Because I had admitted them. I had feelings for Damon Salvatore. Strong feelings. _Very_ strong feelings.

And I'd just given in to them. There was no going back now.

It was only then that I remembered Bonnie's words.

_With Damon, you can never really know._

**Ta-da! Wan to press the button now? Spring break is starting soon, which means more updates for you. Only if you press that little green button now. Well, it's not really small, it's actually kind of big and long and I'm going to stop now because that's kind of perverted......**

**In the scene where Damon and Elena are watching House reruns, I was going to have them watch Lost, since that's my favorite show, but Ian Somerhalder (The guy who play Damon in the show) was in the first two seasons of Lost, so I thought that would be kind of awkward for me.**

**And now I'm done telling you pointless crap that I know you don't care about.  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Spring Break starts pretty soon......Which means more updates for you, since I'm not going anywhere. We never do. *sighs* But at least it makes all of you happy! And you can pretty much just guess what makes me happy......Reviews! So make a poor little midget girl happy, huh? Then your good deed of the day will be done.**

**And the only reason you're getting this chapter today is because I had to go to a funeral so I stayed home from school. **

**It's over!! =( Isn't that sad? But don't worry, eventually I'll be writing another Damon and Elena story, one that will be very different. So maybe if you put me on Author Alert.....*wink wink*  
**

**And actually, I think I'll be writing that one pretty soon, and it's going to be much longer and involve Matt and Jeremy a lot more. I'll probably post it sometime next week.  
**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed and stuck with me through this (short) fanfic, even with my sporadic updating!  
**

**

* * *

**For the rest of that day, I stayed locked in my room, indecision bouncing around in my brain. 

_Stefan Damon Stefan Damon _**......**

I swear, I thought I was going insane. Damon came upstairs a few times to try to talk to me, but his attempts were futile and he eventually gave up. I was torn between feeling guilty for _not_ feeling guilty and just going downstairs and throwing myself at Damon.

But I figured _that_ probably wouldn't be a good idea, so I just stayed locked in my room.

I tried writing in my journal a few times, but all that came out was _Stefan's gone and Damon's here......._

And you'd think that I would have realized that earlier.

"Elena, you're going to have to eat at some point. Just come downstairs. I made lasagna."

Hey, I'm a teenage girl. I have a dew snacks hid around my room. They weren't going to last me very long, but I could probably call Bonnie tomorrow and beg her to bring me some real food.

Then again, I probably couldn't. I'd left my phone downstairs.

Great move, Elena.

I knew I was being childish, and I also knew I was going to have to come out at some point. Jeremy and Aunt Judith would come home and _someone_ was going to have to explain why Damon was sitting downstairs while I was locked in my room. And I really didn't want that someone to be Damon.

So finally, with a sigh, I opened my door and started walking down the stairs. Damon was waiting at the bottom of them, a smirk on his face.

"Is the pretty little princess finally done with her temper tantrum?"

"Shut up, Damon. You said you had food?"

"Aw, and here I was thinking you'd come downstairs for _me_." He said, obviously mocking me.

I rolled my eyes and shoved passed him, walking into the kitchen. True to his word, there was a plate of lasagna sitting on the counter. I'd grabbed a fork and was just about to dig in when my phone rang. I groaned and answered with an annoyed "Hello?"

"What did Damon do now?"

Stefan.

"What do you mean?" I asked a little nervously.

"You don't sound very happy. So what did Damon do?"

I blew out a relieved breath. "Nothing. You just kind of interrupted me trying to eat." I looked down grumpily at the lasagna.

Stefan laughed. "Well I'll let you get back to that. Can you put Damon on the phone?"

"Happily." I said as I handed my cell phone to Damon. He watched me with amused eyes for a moment as I attacked the lasagna, then walked into the living room.

What, he's allowed to listen to my conversations but I can't listen to his? That's just not fair.

Five minutes later, Damon came back into the room and smiled when he saw that the plate was empty."

"I was hungry." I stated, shrugging.

"I can see that." He said, sounding amused and gesturing to the plate. I smiled.

"So what did Stefan want?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

Damon shrugged. "Just to tell me that I had permission to completely ravish his girlfriends, if she was so inclined to do so."

I rolled my eyes, but I think I blushed a little. Damon sighed as he sat down next to me. "He called to tell me that he thinks he's got another lead, and that he's got to go to Florida for a few days." Now Damon rolled his eyes, and he sounded a little sarcastic. "And he told me to tell you he loves you and all that lovey dovey stuff that I don't want to repeat."

We sat in silence for a few more minutes. "Are we ever going to talk about it?" He finally asked.

"Talk about what?" I asked, feigning innocence even though I knew exactly what he was talking about.

He sighed angrily. "You're eventually going to have to choose, Elena. You can't have it both eyes." I looked into his eyes, and I suddenly realized something.

_But I _can _have it both ways. _I want to be with Damon. It's as simple as that. And Stefan will accept that because he loves me. But Damon...If I stayed with Stefan, he wouldn't be able to stand watching us.

So I leaned over and kissed him. He made a surprised noise and then kissed me back passionately. It started off like a normal kiss, but it grew more intense until I finally had to pull back for a breath.

Damon grinned. "Well that was a fast decision."

I rolled my eyes and kissed him again.

Yes, it was a fast decision. But I think I'd known the answer all along. I'd just felt like I'd owed Stefan something for always protecting me...And I did. He deserved the truth. Besides, Damon would protect me too, and I knew Stefan wouldn't stop.

So I pushed all thoughts that weren't about Damon out of my head as I fiercely kissed him.

**I know, I know, crappiest ending ever. And I know it's short. I'm sorry! But at least I gave you what you wanted! Elena and Damon, all the way! And don't forget, most likely sometime next week I'll be posting a new Damon and Elena story.**


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